PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) – This Saturday many cities across the U.S. will have their yearly St. Patrick’s Day parade, but there aren’t many that are as big as Pittsburgh’s. It’s one of the largest anywhere.

Pat O’Brien is the chairman of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and he joined KDKA Radio’s Larry Richert and John Shumway to preview the parade that is bigger and better than ever.

The threat of bad weather is slim, but even if there is any O’Brien says the event will go on as planned.

“Anything can happen, but we’ll still be there, O’Brien said.

Some of the highlights of this year’s parade is recent silver medalist in bobsledding and local Olympian Lauryn Williams. Joining Williams is Michael Carruth, a gold medal winner in boxing for Ireland.

How did Pittsburgh come to have such a large St. Patrick’s Day Parade?

“There is a large Irish community in Pittsburgh, 40 percent of all people in this region claim to have Irish blood,” O’Brien said.

The parade is a celebration of Irish heritage and it’s a family-friendly event.

It will feature 23,000 participants and kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday at Liberty Avenue and 11th Street. It ends at Commonwealth Place.